Page 56

An applicant/recipient who believes that s/he has been discriminated against may file a complaint with the offices listed in the following table (complaints based on discrimination on the basis of marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibilities, source of income, matriculation, or place of residence or business must be filed with one of the D.C. agencies listed below): Agency Address Phone Number D.C. Department of Human Services, Customer Service 645 H Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20002 202-724-5506 D.C. Office of Human Rights and Local Business Development 441 4th Street, NW Suite 970N Washington, D.C. 20001 202-724-1385 D.C. Office of Investigations and Compliance 2146 Georgia Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20001 202-673-6964 202-673-4464 (anonymous calls for fraud) D.C. Office of the Public Advocate 2000 14th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20009 202-673-4413 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Civil Rights 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 326-W 202-720-5964 (voice and TDD) Washington, DC 20050 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights 200 Independence Avenue, SW Room 506F Washington, D.C. 20201 202-619-0403 (voice) 202-619-3257 (TDD) • Each applicant/recipient has the right to be informed verbally and in writing of his/her rights, obligations, responsibilities, potential risks, and penalties under these benefit programs. • Each applicant/recipient has a right to privacy. Information unrelated to the eligibility process cannot be requested by the Agency. • All information regarding an applicant/recipient shall be used only for determining and administering benefits and shall be safeguarded against disclosure without prior authorization by the applicant/recipient or his/her legal representative, except as noted in Section 3.5: Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information in this Part. • Each applicant/recipient has a right to have information collected kept private by the Department. Data collected and maintained by District agencies is private, unless specifically classified otherwise by law. Although this data is considered private, applicants/recipients or representatives may review private records which contain data or information on them. Private or public data must actually be shown to the subject of the data and not summarized. Data on two or more people maintained in a common file because of family relationships are 'joint records'. Delete material in joint records about the person not requesting the review to protect that person's privacy. Parents may view records of their minor children, unless the agency decides that the request is not in the best interests of the children. Provide copies of original documents when requested by the subject of the data or the subject's authorized representative.